Equities soar as fiscal package hopes arise

World equity benchmarks soared, reaching near record highs and the dollar dipped anew to 2-1/2-year lows on Wednesday after investors weighed the possibility for more U.S. economic stimulus to address deteriorating American jobs figures.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 increased 6.55 points, or 0.18%, to 3,669; the Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 59.87 points, or 0.2%, to 29,883.79. However, the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.74 points, or 0.05%, to 12,349.37. U.S. stock benchmarks closed at record highs on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index dipped 0.104%, while U.S. benchmark 10-year notes last fell 3/32 in price to yield 0.9442%, up from 0.934% Tuesday.

For commodities, spot gold spiked 0.7% to $1,828.23 an ounce. U.S. gold futures added 0.72% to $1,827.20 an ounce. U.S. crude gained 1.3% to $45.13 per barrel and Brent closed at $48.20, up 1.64% on the day.

Declining private jobs data in the United States worked for safe-haven assets. Additional 307,000 jobs were recorded last month, falling below the 410,000 projection of Reuters poll of economists, according to the ADP National Employment Report.